"Nest Smart Thermostat Gets a Thumbs Up!"

Nest Smart Thermostat

Kevin C. Tofel of GigaOM installed a Nest smart thermostat in his home and tested it for several weeks. He calls this revolutionary indoor temperature controller a “smart device for all seasons.”

The $249 Nest is “smart” because it can manage the home’s environment automatically once it gets an idea how warm or cold you want it. Owners can simply forget about Nest once it “learns your comfort zones,” but they can still manually adjust the device and it will will learn that new behavior, thus making its automatic mode more precise.

Tofel admires how easy Nest can be installed in one’s home. Its package even comes with a small screwdriver to assist in installation. Nest is designed in a way that i will never be askew upon installation. The device also has built-in WiFi connectivity, which connects to the homeowner’s wireless network as Nest gets installed.

He wrote: “Most people don’t think ‘bling’ when describing a thermostat, but the Nest is beautiful to see. It’s a round metal knob with a circular display on the front. That’s it. To navigate the Nest’s interface, you simply turn the wheel through menu options and push the Nest in to choose an option: Simple, effective and intuitive.”

This thermostat does not conserve too much energy since its screen “sleeps” after a few minutes, then wakes up when it senses the homeowner nearby. If Nest senses you are not at home, it turns on the Away mode, adjusting the thermostat up or down to save energy. The Away mode is then disabled when the Nest senses you get home. There is also that sense of convenience as Next can be controlled via smartphone app (available in iOS and Android), tablet, or through its website.

The screen has a simple yet useful UI. Its display color is blue when cooling, which turns to red when heating. It also displays the current temperature and a green leaf to indicate an energy-saving feature is activated.

While he has many good words toward Nest, the device has its share of kinks. Being a standalone device, it cannot communicate with the home’s “smart home” installation.

“Still, the simplicity of the device may trump this particular issue,” he added “And most consumers don’t already have a home automation system to integrate with a thermostat, so all in all, it’s likely not a problem for you. I’m on the fence for now, but chances are the good looks of the Nest will get the better of me and I’ll retire my old smart thermostat for a better looking, younger model.”

Source: GigaOM